£3million Oscar Wilde-linked mansion mysteriously burns down after huge drugs bust

Built over 100 years ago for Oscar Wilde’s theatre producer, grade II-listed grand country home The Court once stood proudly at the heart of Chorleywood in Hertfordshire.

But the £3m eight-bedroom mansion was left a charred and smouldering ruin on Sunday morning after a mysterious fire ripped through it overnight.

Six fire engines rushed to the 3.5-acre estate at 12.13am, where 24 firefighters tackled towering flames with nearby pond water for around five hours.

The tragedy was just the latest development in the “strange” and “sad” destruction of the house, residents of the well-to-do civil parish told The Independent.

Neighbour Phil Hayes, 57, said: “The fire came as a complete shock. It was about 1 o’clock in the morning when we saw the flames.

Were you affected by the fire? Contact alexander.butler@independent.co.uk

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“It seems to be the last chapter in the building’s sad demise. It has fallen into disrepair over the years.”

The Court was built in 1911 for Sir George Alexander, an actor who produced Wilde’s world-renowned play, The Importance of Being Earnest.

The Irish-born playwright wrote a 16-page hand-written letter to Sir George in 1894 trying to sell him the play for £150, which is worth around £25k today.

Around 60 years after this, Fay Caplin, a “generous and welcoming” woman, moved in with her husband Robert Caplin shortly after marrying him in 1954.

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Mrs Caplin lived on the grounds, equipped with a swimming pool and summerhouse, until her death aged 91 in 2022.

A village newsletter dubbed her the “heart of the community” and said she would often “throw open her beautiful home” to neighbours, hosting garden parties and dinners.

Two years after she died, The Court sat empty and in disrepair when it was bought by 43-year-old property developer Tarun Agrawal after he “fell in love” with it. Mr Agrawal has never lived in the property.

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But only months afterwards, police helicopters and scores of officers busted and deported an elusive gang using the Tudor-style home as a cannabis farm.

Miss Campbell, who lives in a row of former almshouses opposite the estate, said the blaze had left her searching for answers.

“It is all very strange,” she told The Independent. “I heard something about a cannabis farm being set up there. And now it has just gone up in flames.”

Mr Agrawal told The Independent he did not know the cannabis farmers, had never lived in the property, and had tried to install a wall around his tree-lined garden to protect the estate.

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“We live locally and loved the property. It had beautiful character and history. I fell in love with it,” he said.

“My friend said I should forget about my house and move in as soon as I could. We wanted to build the wall to protect it. But the council did not let us.”

He applied to build a two-metre-high brick wall around his property in June 2024, but it was refused by Three Rivers District Council.

The council said the proposed wall would have a “negative impact” on mature trees surrounding the property, which backed on to Chorleywood Common.

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Chorleywood ward councillor Philip Hearn said he was “shocked and upset” by the fire and called for the house to be rebuilt.

“I am shocked and upset by this. We’ll be working to ensure the cause of the fire is fully investigated,” he said.

“A fire does not automatically remove the listing of a property and while too early to know the exact cause, the starting point should be for the property to be fully restored.”

A Hertfordshire Police spokesperson said: “Police were called at 12.20am on Sunday 9 February by the fire service to reports of a fire at a derelict property on Rickmansworth Road, Chorleywood.

“A number of road closures were put in place and emergency services remain at the scene.

“Investigations with colleagues in the fire service are taking place to establish the cause of the fire.”

A Three Rivers Council spokesperson added: “Officers at Three Rivers District Council are assisting Hertfordshire Constabulary in its ongoing investigation following a fire at a vacant property in Rickmansworth Road, Chorleywood, in the early hours of Sunday morning.”